Eat

Toddlers are selective, predictable and stubborn, but making lunchtime doesn’t have to be difficult for either of you. Here are some tips to make the 12 o’clock hour fun for your toddler!

1. Setting a schedule: A key to toddler lunchtime good behavior is sticking to the same schedule every day. Sit down at the same time each day for lunch with your toddler and build a routine.

Sharing the fabulous flavors of the holidays with your new baby is an experience that you’ll cherish for a lifetime. Socializing is part of the fun too, so reserve a seat (high chair) near the dining room table for your baby to join in the celebration.

Even though your baby may not be eating all types of table food yet, there are plenty of choices that can make a festive and delicious holiday dinner. For your baby’s holiday dinner, stick with foods that you have already introduced

The cranberry is a Native American fruit that grows on trailing vines like a strawberry and thrives in wetland areas called bogs. Cranberries are harvested in September and October. The most common technique for harvesting is known as a "wet" harvest, which involves flooding the bogs with water to float the fruit for easy collection. During the winter the frozen water insulates and protects the vines.

The North American cranberry has a distinguished history. Native Americans used cranberries as food, in ceremonies, and medicinally.

Nuts are a common allergen among children and they can cause one of the more severe, even life-threatening allergic reactions known as anaphylaxis. Only about 6 percent of all children have clinically diagnosed food allergies. This number is rather small, but food intolerance, which presents itself much like a food allergy, adds to the public perception that this is a major issue. While the medical difference is quite different, the solution to a food allergy and intolerance is to remove the culprit food from you or your child’s diet.

I grilled some wild Sockeye salmon a couple of nights ago and had a few cooked pieces left over. I was going to just toss it in a green salad and be done with it, when I thought, why not try something different? When I checked my fridge and pantry, I had all the necessary ingredients to make salmon cakes.

Traditionally, crab cakes or salmon cakes are served with a remoulade. According to my copy of "The New Food Lover’s Companion", a remoulade is a mayonnaise-based sauce with "mustard, capers, gherkins, herbs and anchovies."

Papaya is available in most supermarkets all year round. If you plan to eat them right away, look for fruit that’s mostly yellow in color and slightly soft to the touch. Papayas that are mostly green with a bit of yellow color—and firm—will be ready to eat in a few days. Avoid fruits with too many black marks or soft spots.

There are two types of papayas: Hawaiian and Mexican. The Hawaiian variety weigh about 1 pound and have yellow skin when ripe. Mexican papayas may weigh up to 10 pounds and can be more than 15 inches long. Hawaiian papayas have a little more intense flavor than the Mexican variety.

When we were in Rome last year, we had some fantastic zucchini flowers stuffed with ricotta, batter dipped and fried. I want to make those at some point, but for my first attempt at cooking with them, I want to do something easier, so I decided to put them on a pizza.

First though, I had to figure out how and when to pick them. A quick Google search revealed that there are both male and female blossoms. There are more male ones, which are there strictly for pollination (of course), than there are female ones. The female ones create the vegetable (of course).